THE OPOSSUM 447 



FAMILY NOTORYCTID^. 



POUCHED MOLE (Notoryctes typhlops). 



Coloured Plate XXXII. Fig. 3. 



The Marsupial, or Pouched, Mole inhabits the sandy 

 plains in the region of Lake Eyre. It is about five inches 

 in length, or the same size as the European common mole. 

 In colour it is light fawn, varying to golden yellow. The 

 most remarkable feature of the animal is the abnormal 

 size of the third and fourth toes of the fore limbs. They 

 are scoop-like claws of great power, eminently serviceable 

 to the animal in its sand-burrowing habits. It appears to 

 spend its whole life in burrowing. Pressing its belly along 

 the ground, it moves with a slow, sinuous motion for a few 

 feet on the surface, and then, entering the sand obliquely, it 

 burrows along at a depth of only two or three inches. 

 Presently it will emerge to repeat the process. Probably 

 no live specimens have been brought to Europe, for the 

 animal will not eat food provided for it by its captors. 



FAMILY DIDELPHIDJE (OPOSSUMS). 

 OPOSSUM (Didelphys dorsigerus). 

 Coloured Plate XXXII. Fig. 4. 



Without exception the marsupials already described are 

 Australasian, but save the kangaroo and its allies the 

 American Opossum (Didelphys virginiana) is perhaps the 

 best known and certainly not the least interesting of 

 the pouched animals. 



The locality of the American Opossum is indicated in its 

 specific name ; it abounds in the warmer parts of North 

 America, extending considerably north of Virginia. In form 

 it is robust and in size about that of an ordinary cat. The 

 colour of its fine woolly fur ranges from white to black, and 

 includes numerous varieties of intermixture. The out- 

 standing feature of the Opossum is its pre-eminently pre- 



